A Forgotten Encounter
by SinaBrosLN
Summary: When Cloud was a kid he had ran into trouble with a gang of thugs but was saved by a mysterious blue eyed raven haired boy who inspired him to learn how to defend himself. 5 years later, Cloud had forgotten that encounter and when he is on his way to his high school a certain raven haired boy runs in to him. This is a yaoi CloudxZack It's rated T for violence, please enjoy :)
1. Chapter 1

Forgotten Encounter

PROLOGUE

The young teenage boy was running late. The wind was strong, breezing through his spiky blond hair. He wore a dress shirt and black shorts that just pass his knees and he wore dress shoes with long socks but not too long. He carried a viola case on his back and was running as fast as he could to his middle school. Everything around him was eerie, of course it would be, it was a quarter after six in fall. The boy glanced at his wrist watch and cursed under his breath. 'I've got to make it on time or I won't even get a minute to practice before the concert!'

The boy started to feel relief when his school came into view, when suddenly a group of dark figures came out of nowhere and blocked his path. The blond came to a halt, trying to catch his breath. He felt fear but mostly confusion on what was going on. There were three men blocking his path, they all had creepy smiles on their faces.

"C-can I help you?" The boy asked out of fear but was still polite. The man in the middle (assuming to be the leader of the group) started to speak.

"That's a nice lookin' case ya' got there, what instrument is it?"

"A-a viola…" he started getting a bad feeling about all this. Of course he already had a bad feeling to begin with but whatever.

"Oooh…" The man cooed, trying to sound interested. "Can I see it?" The boy took a step back, his emerald eyes showing uncertainty. "I-I'm running late…please, I gotta go…!" He said while trying to run around them, but a hand reached out, grabbing a hold of the straps to his case, yanking him back, causing him to lose his footing, and falling to the ground. The boy made a squeal at first then'oof' when he hit the hard concrete.

"P-please I-I-"

"You're a rich boy. I bet your parents give you a reasonable allowance."

"N-n-n-no! I-I-" The boy was kicked in the stomach, causing him to lose his breath.

"Give it up, kid. NOW!" The leader demanded. What was the boy to do? He didn't have any money!

"Oi!" called out a new voice. The three men looked in the direction of the voice and found another kid around the blonde victim's age.

"Beat it, kid!" one of the thugs yelled.

The raven haired boy snickered and his bright, mako blue eyes shined with excitement.

"Nah, I think I'll stick around." He started to crack his knuckles and his neck "It's been a while since I had a good fight and I need to blow off some steam." The three men laughed. "Ahaha! Alright, kid, I guess I'll have to beat some sense into you." The blonde was scared to see what was going to happen to the other boy.

Everything happened so fast once one of the thugs charged at the raven boy and before he knew it, all three men were lying on the ground unconscious. The blonde boy looked up to see the raven haired boy walking towards him. He held out his hand which made the blonde flinch.

"It's okay, I'm not the bad guy here…"

…The last thing, Cloud Strife could remember where those bright, blue eyes… Then…He woke up…

~Chapter 1~

Cloud had woken up on a Monday morning and had once again, before his alarm clock. His eyes blinked open and took in his bedroom. The white walls had metals and trophies from wining 1st and 2nd places in martial arts competitions. He lay in bed for a few minutes before he sighed and got up for a 'wonderful' day of school.

Cloud was 18 years old and was already living alone in his apartment. He paid for the bills with his two part time jobs. His parents always bugged him on "Oh don't worry son, we will pay for it!" or "It's too dangerous to work at a place like that!" but he already knew and had no worries about it. He wanted to prove that he doesn't need to rely on his rich parents to get by.

He was ready and dressed in his school uniform for the day. Cloud was walking to the train station while adjusting his black sweater vest, and then his half moon shaped glasses (He did use contacts but only for work). He was suppose to wear a black tie along with his uniform but never wore it because he felt like he was being choked to death.

The blond got to the train station on time and took a seat in the not so crowded train. Once the train finally took off, Cloud began to notice how most people on the train had a friend or someone to talk to. He also noticed that he never spoke; he only speaks when it's absolutely necessary, like when he's at work or when a teacher calls on him in class. Cloud didn't even have friends to talk to, he only had himself and he would like to keep it that way even though he did feel lonely at times 'but I don't have time for any of that so get over I, Cloud…'

The train had finally stopped at his destination. He waited till the big crowds of people got off before he did, Cloud was a cautious boy and didn't like being in big crowds. Cloud exited the subway station and made his way u the hill that leads to his high school.

Zack had ran out of the train before the doors closed. He had fallen asleep on it and was now running late for his first day of school. He started running up the hill and wasn't really watching where he was going, so you can see why he would run into someone and knocking them both down. "Ah!" The boy yelped when Zack went crashing on him. "Holy shit, man! I'm so sorry!" Zack apologized over and over to the blond boy and he look notice to his angelic features, he was beautiful.

"Just shut up and get off me!" The angelic boy yelled, well his face was angelic anyway. Zack looked confused at first but then realized that he was still on top of the poor boy. He jumped off, examined him while the blonde picked up his book that he dropped. He had a scowl on his face and his Santa Clause glasses made him look even angrier, but he was still beautiful in Zack's eyes. Zack held out his hand for the Angel Face but he smacked it away. He got rejected? Impossible!

"U-um I'm sorry, Ange- I-I mean-"

"I'm going to be late now because of you..." He growled at him then started jogging up the hill.

Zack watched the Angel Face run up the hill until he couldn't see him anymore. He didn't know what to think, but something felt familiar and whatever it was….he liked it! A big grin spread across his face but quickly fell when the school bell rang.

"SHIT!"


	2. Chapter 2

~Chapter 2~

Cloud was relieved to make it to class on time. That damn raven haired kid threw off his groove! '_Groove? Really cloud? Get serious…' _

He was also glad to find that the jocks where already out of the halls and in class by the time he got there. He did get bullied a lot and even though could totally beat their asses, he didn't… He made a promise to someone important to him that he would not fight unless his or somebody else's life was in danger, a few bruises where not life threatening so….oh well?

Hopefully another clumsy idiot won't run into him tomorrow. He sighed and tried to get over it but his thoughts went back from when the raven offered his hand. It all felt so…familiar somehow…Cloud had decided that it was nothing and concentrated on the lecture that the teacher had just started.

The bell had finally rung, ending first period. "Two hours passed already?" he mumbled while looking at his watch. "hm" He adjusted his glasses and packed his books. "on to the next boring class. Science was so 'fun'" and by fun he means boring, except for that one time when a spiky red head had caught something on fire, THAT at least amused him. What was that pyromaniac's name again? Axel was it?

_Somewhere in a different class Axel was overcome by a sneeze and got saliva on Roxas who got angry and punched him in the face "Sorr- Ow!"_

Making it to his second period on time (having to run because the school is too gosh darn big!) he took a seat in his usual spot (usually in the front corner of the classroom by the door). Cloud took out his notebook since the professor usually liked to start the day with notes. While he was waiting for the professor to get his things ready his mind went back to this morning. '_Had that guy crashed into me on purpose, was he just another bully trying to get on my nerves? I dunno, he did_ _seem that he was sorry…Ugh! Why am I thinking of stupid things right now! Get your game together, Cloud!' _He let out a sigh and just decided to doodle instead

Zack had finally got his schedule from Principal Lazard, who just kept on talking and talking and talking about rules, rules and more rules. He let out an exasperated sigh of relief when he FINALLY got out of that office. Now he just needed to wait for his guide who was suppose to meet him here. "Hmmm…I wonder if I have any classes with…uhhh...Shit I don't even know his name! I didn't ask him! What kind of person am I!?" He started to scream at himself but then quickly took notice of the students staring at him as if he had a mental problem. He put on his best smile and nervously laughed while rubbing the back of his head. "Hehe, nothing to see here, folks! You can go back to whatever you were doing!" He felt a light tap on his shoulder, he turned to find a familiar face. She had her brown curly hair thied in the ribbon he had gotten her years ago and her eyes were greener than ever.

"Aerith?!" She seemed startled at first.

"Z-Zack? So it is you!" She smiled.

"Yeah! Wait, are YOU my guide?" He pointed at her. She giggled then motioned her head for him to follow her. "Anything to skip second period" Zack smiled and followed. "whats bad about second period?"

"Oh just a very boring professor who likes to start his days will really long lectures. It's a pretty boring class, except there was this one kid who decided to play with fire and almost burnt the classroom down." She laughed.

_Somewhere in the school, Axel was overcome with another sneeze "Achoo!" he sniffled "Sheesh, allergies kicking up.." he mumble while rubbing his nose._

"Let me see your schedule." Aerith said, holding out her hand. Zack handed it over. "hmm..oh! you have a class with me."

"Yay!" He started to celebrate when... "Unfortunately it's the boring one I mentioned…sowee!" she added. "awwww…"

She giggled once more "Well I'll show you where your classes are and then we will see the rest of the school."

Zack spent most of the school day being toured by Aerith. _Who knew the school could be so big!?_ Most of the time, Zack, was searching for a certain blue eyed angel with the name of…w-well he doesn't know his name YET but he's sure it's beautiful. While his mind went back to his encounter with the angry blond he then realized that Aerith might know him! Why didn't he think of that sooner?!

"…and out here is thw wing 'B' courtyard where-"

"Aerith!" His sudden shout of her name made her jump. "W-what!?"

He cleared his throat then calmly asked "I was wondering if you know some guy. He has blonde hair, blue eyes and-"

"Oh! You must mean Rufus!" _So that's his name? Rufus? Boy, his parents must have hated him. _ "He's a serious fellow most of the time…" She added. _Serious? That must be him! Right?_

"Can you introduce me to him?"

She smiled and nodded. "Of course, but he's in class right now so we will have to wait…" She looked to her wrist watch when 'Bing, Bing, Bing' the bell went off, ending the school day. "Oh, has it been that long already?" Zack laughed and ruffled her hair. "H-hey you're messing up my hair!" She slapped his hand away before he could do any further damage. He continued laughing; he couldn't help but feel happy. She continued to pout which made Zack laugh even harder.

The final ball had finally ringed and Cloud had started to pack his text books and pencils in his bag. _I should rent a locker or something… _Cloud was just about finished and was about to leave when a figure blocked his path from even getting out of his seat. No one else was in the large class room, not even the teacher was there. It was just him and Xigbar. Cloud let out a sigh in annoyance. _Why must this fucking pirate have to go out of his was to give me a head ache or rather 'bully' me. Should I even consider it bullying?_ "Can I help you with something, Xigbar…?" Cloud was always polite when he was in a tight situation. We can guess that something's just don't change.

Xigbar had his hair pulled back and he still had his annoying cocky smile. He wore an eye patch and had a huge scar on his face. Nobody knew how he got it and was too scared to ask. It's not like Cloud was scared to ask, It's more like he didn't care but the man did remind him of a pirate.

"Well ya see I'm going to need to 'borrow' some money from ya" _Borrow? Yeah, right. _Money wasn't a thing that Xigbar ever 'asked' him for, which was weird, he usually did the typical bully stuff like name calling or maybe some pranks but he never demanded money. It was sad; Cloud didn't think that Xigbar would get so low.

"That's a new one. Unfortunately I'm broke at the moment, maybe next time." Cloud said while getting up from his seat. He really did need to leave, he had to be at work in an hour and that only gave him enough time to get on a train to get home, get ready, and walk to his work. Xigbar pushed him back in his seat rather harshly.

"Well you see…" He snickered "I think you do, faggot!" _And there's the name calling… _

Zack was feeling frustrated. Oh he met, Rufus alright but he wasn't the angel that he met that morning. When Zack pointed out that Rufus was not the man he was looking for, Aerith took him to someone else. Was this guy named, Roxas the one? Nope! The boy had spiky blonde hair but it wasn't him." How many blondes are in that school anyways?!" he screamed out loud. He was walking with Aerith and the sky was a color of orange but dark clouds seemed to be forming. "Well there are approximately 146 blondes in the school." Well she did give him an answer. He let out a huge sigh then gave her a 'Are-you-kidding-me?' look. " Oh don't give me that look, Fair!" He let out a grunt then started walking away while Aerith on his trail.

They where both silent for a while when Aerith asked "Um, Zack…?"

"Hm?"

"May I ask you something?" He stopped walking and turned to look at her "sure"

"Why are you looking for Clou- I-I mean th-the 'Angel Face' ?!" she let out a nervous laugh. _She was going to say a name wasn't she? Wasn't she!?_ Zack gave her a look. "You…YOU!"

She let out a yelp from his booming voice. "You've known who I was talking about all along!"

"I'm sorry but I had to!" she yelled back "I'm angry! He yelled.

"Hulk smash!" She flexed her 'muscles' and tried to look intimidating. "…"

Zack and Aerith both sat at a bench. Zack knew he couldn't be mad at her. _Im sure she has a good reason why she didn't tell me… _

"So um, why do you 'have to' not tell me who he is?" he asked. He was calm now. "Well you see…" she drifted off then "He made me promise that if anyone was in any kind of way looking for him then I was not allowed to give out any information." She looked up at him with worry in her eyes. "Please don't hate me, Zack" she begged.

"I could never hate you Aerith, you're my best friend." He said with a smile. "But…When did he make you promise and why?" _Did he know that people were going to go looking for him…?_

"It was about a year ago actually, He told me while we were working." She sighed "He's a bit paranoid I guess a very cautious person…"she looked down at her watch and stood from the bench."speaking of work, I gotta get going." She stood from the bench. "You should come visit me at work sometime. I work at a place called 'M's Styles' they got some pretty neat stuff there." She gave him a wink and ran off. _She winked at me…hmmm…_Zack knew Aerith never winks and when she does then….

Zack sat there trying to think. _What did the wink mean?! I can think well right now! I'm going home!_

Cloud finally made it out of the class room where Xigbar had threatened and even punched him a few times before he let him go. _Fuck I hope there isn't any swelling…_Pulling out his phone he quickly called his boss. "Little Brother!" The man's was so loud and high pitched that cloud had to pull the phone away from his almost deaf ear. "Hey, Marluxia I'm going to be a little late today." He said once he put the phone at a safe distance from his ear. There was a pause "Did something happen?" Marluxias once happy voice became serious. Marluxia grew up with Cloud and he always referred him as his 'little brother' even though they were not blood related. Cloud never counted Marluxia as a friend but more like family even though he would never admit it out loud. "No…Well not really…ish…" Cloud wasn't trying to lie he just didn't really want to make the pink haired man worry. "Cloud, what happened…?"

"Nothing really, I'll probably be about 10 to 15 minutes late so I'll see you then, bye" and he hung up before Mar could say anything else.

The Raven had made it home safely. "I'm home!" he announced "Yo" called out Angeal's voice "how was your first day?"

Zack ran into the living area and jumped on the couch next to his older brother. "It was amazing!" He then told him about his encounter with the blue eyed angel and his tour at school.

"Sounds to me that this 'angel' has a temper" Angeal stated. "Well yeah, I mean I did kind of throw him to the ground hehe" Zack sounded way too happy. "I'm going t start my search fresh tomorrow!" He jumped off the couch and ran to his bedroom. Angeal would probably never understand on what going on in that porcupine heads of his.


	3. Chapter 3

~Chapter 3~

It was a stormy Tuesday when the blonde woke up from him slumber. He felt strange, the first time in years his alarm clock had actually woke him up. He stayed late at work plenty of times and still would wake up before it.

"FFFFFFF-Fuck!" He screamed while stretching (does anyone else make a weird noise while stretching or am I the only one?). He quickly got up and got ready for another day of school. Its not like he hated school or anything, its more like he hated the people there. His mind went back to his encounter with the ravenette. He didn't feel any anger towards him anymore but more confusion. He had never seen the guy before and its rare to get a new student towards the end of the school year. His mind went back to the raven holding out his hand but every time he did it was …different yet familiar, he always saw that it was much darker than it should have been in the morning but maybe it was something else?

The apartment door was now locked and Cloud was making his way towards the subway. He crossed the Odd Bridge, well it wasn't really named that but that was the name Cloud gave it. He felt that Odd was better since well…it was weird looking, mostly because there where huge branches sticking horizontally out of it, Cloud had no idea how they got there, maybe some kids put them there or something but whatever.

Cloud looked up to the dark cloudy sky; it was much clearer yesterday morning. As much as Cloud loved the rain, he was hoping it didn't. He was an adult now and he didn't want to deal with floods but he knew he couldn't escape it. It did rain a lot here.

He made it to the subway on time and sat in his usual spot in the train. As usual the place wasn't full but it wasn't empty. It was strange because he would imagine the train being packed by people on their way to work or school. Cloud decided to take out a book to pass the time, as he was about to put on his half moons heard yelling.

"Wait. !" screamed Zack. The doors were about to close. _Almost there! _He jumped in! Before he could celebrate he found himself stumbling because the train had started to move right when he landed. Luckily for him someone broke his fall. He looked up to the shocked blue eyes or the angel face.

His book was now on the dirty flood of the train and he had a full grown, spiky haired guy on top of him, AGAIN! Cloud was too shocked to do or say anything; he didn't think that the same thing would happen to him TWICE and by the same person too! He man looked up, his eyes where a brilliant blue. _So beautiful...W-wait what are you thinking, Cloud! Get this weirdo off of you!_ The Raven jumped off him before Cloud could kick him off.

"A-A! I'm so sor-"

"Don't even start the apology shit!" Cloud interrupted then he took a deep breath. He took his book from the floor and after adjusting his glasses he continued his reading. He tried the best to avoid the stare or the raven. He just stood there staring at him!

Finally Cloud looked up in frustration. "Sit your ass down. I don't want you landing on me AGAIN!"

Zack quickly sat down next to the blonde. He finally found him! It didn't take that long but it felt forever to him. It must have been fate or something! He wanted to say something to the blond but didn't know… _ oh my god! I don't know what to do! What do I do?! _He glanced at the book he was reading, _The Complete Tales and Poems of Edger Allan Poe_….The fuck is that shit?! He must have said that out loud because all eyes were on him, including Angel Face. Zack was expecting the blonde to lash out at him but instead…

"_…My eyes, from the cruel pressure of the machine, were absolutely starting from their sockets. While I was thinking how I should possibly manage without them, one actually tumbled out of my head, and, rolling down-"Zack_ quickly covered the blonde's mouth before he went further in the story. _Holy shit! _ He also noticed the disgusted stares they were getting from the passengers. Did Angel Face have no shame? Angel Face? That's not even his name. He quickly removed his hand when he received a glare from the blonde. "Sorry 'bout that. So, what's your name?" He finally asked. He NEEDED to know his name.

The blonde took a while to respond but finally…

"Cloud…" He said. Cloud? Like those puffy things in the sky? Was he messing with him?

"Your name is Cloud?"

"That IS what I said, didn't I?" He sounded a bit frustrated.

"Wow…" Zack was pleased with this name; it sure beat _Rufus_ or _Roxas_.

"Is there something wrong with that?" He asked.

"Wha- N-no! I mean! I think its…beautiful…"

Cloud blushed a little but quickly hid his face in his book. _Beautiful? The hell? Why would he say that?! _

"My name is Zack!" He said while pointing his thumb to his face. Out of habit, Cloud took his hand and shook it, which caused the raven-no-. It caused _Zack _to blush.

"It was horrible meeting you, Zack but I guess I've had worse." Cloud said while shaking his hand. Cloud smirked a little, finding Zack's reaction a bit funny because the raven was actually flattered!

Throughout the train ride and the walk up the hill, Cloud and Zack were conversating, well more like Zack was running his mouth while cloud listened but he was still enjoying the raven's nonsense. They walked into the air conditioned building.

" I forgot this place was so huge!" exclaimed Zack. "Do you know where to go?" asked Cloud. He looked to his wrist watch, he guessed that he had enough time to show him to his classroom.

"Nah, I'm fine, Aerith showed me around yesterday" He said. Cloud was reminded of the brunette. "You know Aerith?" Before Zack could answer, the bell rung and they both departed ways to their classes.

Cloud was walking to his class while thinking of his new friend. _Friend? Is he my friend? _Hmmm…

Zack made a new friend! He was so happy that he found himself skipping to his first period, he quickly stopped so he won't receive anymore odd stares from other students. He noticed one guy that stood out from the crowd. He wore an eye patch… _He's like a pirate! Holy Shit! _He and the pirate made eye contact and he smirked and made his way towards Zack.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys I know I'm almost 2 weeks late with this chapter and I know you dont want to hear any half ass excuses so I'm going to admit that I got kinda lazy hehe ^^; but I did and extra thousand words in this chapter and I hope its good enough so yeah im not going to make anymore promises on when I'm going to post a new chapter since I didn't keep my last one and I'm so sorry for that DX I will start posting whenever I can but since Christmas is coming up it might take a few more weeks for chapter 5.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy characters. All characters belong to their righful owners.**

**Enjoy~**

~Chapter 4~

"Hey you must be the new kid" Said the Pirate. They shook each others hands. "The name Is Xigbar"

"Zack Fair. Nice to meet you, Xigbar. You in this class? I hear it sucks pig dicks!" That comment made Xigbar wail in laughter. "Holy shit I like ya' already! We should hang out." He said while they both walked in the classroom.

Cloud felt a shiver go down his spine. Something didn't feel right, but he quickly got over it because nothing ever felt right. He felt something land in his hair and quickly shook it out, it was a paper air plane. He casted a glair to the group in the back. _Fucking jocks… _They all laughed and started throwing more.

"Mouths shut you little fuckers!" Auron was the only teacher in this school that could get away with cussing at students. Cloud always found him amusing.

Cloud couldn't concentrate during class since the dumb asses in the back kept laughing. The blonde would sometimes catch his name in their conversations and other words that he would rather not say. He glanced down to the pile of paper air planes and noticed that one was slightly opened, it looked like they wrote in it. Cloud was almost scared to see what was written inside them _almost. _Opening one he was relieved to find that it was just old notes that they probably ripped out of their spiral note books. He then looked at another but then froze when he looked in it.

_Die Faggot!_

They want him dead? Would they really go that far? These jocks would always do worse than Xigbar. They knew that Cloud wouldn't fight back and they used that to their advantage but still, Cloud would always be able think of worse things that's happened to him and that's how he is able to move on.

The two hours in class didn't pass as fast as it did yesterday but it was finally over. Cloud was packing his things when he was pushed rather harshly onto the floor.

"Watch where you're going you little shit!" One of the jocks said, Cloud couldn't remember the guy's name but he will always remember his stupid, ugly face. He grabbed Clouds bag and dumped its contents, along with 600 page text book over him. The thick book landed on his head, which brought a good amount of pain to his skull. The group laughed and walked off in the direction of the cafeteria. Usually everyone was suppose to go on to their next period but on Tuesdays is when the school gives students a half hour break.

Cloud took the text book and the other things that were scattered on the floor and replaced them back in his bag. He didn't even bother rubbing his head because he most likely had a bump and touching it would only make it feel worse. So he just went along with his day or at least tried but he kept on getting horrified stares from fellow students. _The hell is wrong with them? _

Zack had once again made another new friend! Though Zack already picked a favorite and that favorite is who he was looking out for. _Where is he? _ He was expecting to have lunch with Cloud but he didn't see him in the cafeteria. _Maybe he's outside._ He looked to Xigbar and Demyx. Those two have been best friends for years, or so he heard. "Hey you guys wanna hang outside?" That's question made Demyx a bit exited. He adjusted his guitar case that he held on his back. "Yeah! It looks like it might rain, yay water!" Then he started skipping for the doors. Xigbar let out a sigh and started after him with Zack on his trail. He stared at the guitar case on the smaller boy's back and imagined one that's a bit smaller, a violin maybe? No that can be it, hmmm…

Zack came to a halt when he spotted his blonde friend. You would think that he would get excited about finally finding him again but he couldn't really feel excitement with the blood dripping down the blondes head. He ran over to him in a panic.

"Cloud, holy shit! Are you okay?" His panicked questioning seemed to startle Cloud.

"What are you talking about?" Did Cloud really didn't know what he was talking about?! There was blood running down his face! How do you not notice that?!

Zack took the blondes hand and started walking in the direction of the nurse's office. "Wh-where are you taking me Zack? What the hell?!"

Cloud's confusion had vanished once Zack had dragged him to the nurse's office. Guess the 'bump' on his head was actually a cut. A rather small cut but any little open flesh on the head bleeds a lot so there you go. The nurse had let them go once he had fixed the wound. They were both walking down the hall. Cloud felt a bit embarrassed since he was cursing at Zack the whole way to the nurses office when all Zack was trying to do was help him. He looked up to the raven, he didn't look too happy, he didn't blame him. _I need to apologize…_

"Listen Zack…. I'm sorry for calling you a Butt Munching Ass Hole and a Shit Eating Dick Head…and-" Cloud was cut off with a laugh. He was a bit shocked by Zack's sudden outburst of laughter.

"How did you even come up with those? Haha they were pretty good, but that's not what I'm mad about…" Zack stopped walking, his face had become serious. He turned to look at Cloud, who had also come to a halt. Cloud was a bit confused though. _The hell is he mad about then?_

"Who made you bleed..?" Zack asked. His voice was different, it wasn't angry or anything it was more like….deadly maybe?

Cloud wasn't expecting that. He felt a shiver run down his spine, a strange sensation. Should he tell him? It wasn't really any of Zack's business but he sounded so…scary…_W-wait?! Scary? Well yeah…I guess…_

"What makes you think someone did it?" Is what suddenly escaped his lips. He was a bit scared to ask though. Cloud now found Zack a pretty scary person when the time was right, it sent a sense of adrenaline through his body…He sort of liked it…

The question seemed to catch Zack off guard and he was snapped out of serious mode. He folded his arms and looked up as if he were thinking on an answer. He finally looked back down at Cloud and said.

"I don't know… I just figured I guess. So it was all an accident…" He stated.

Cloud turned away from him to hide his smirk. "No you where right, someone did this to me" He said and continued walking.

"What!? Why didn't you say that in the first place then?" he said, bewildered.

"because it's fun toying with you." You could hear the smile in his voice but Cloud continued walking with a big smile on his face. It was strange. He couldn't remember the last time he really smiled.

"Wha- you- That's cruel, Cloud!" He yelled as he ran to catch up to him.

Cloud couldn't help it anymore; he let out a wail of laughter. He loved the reaction he got out of the raven.

The laughter was really coming from the blonde? A sense of warmth was sent through his body. Zack had finally caught up enough to Cloud to see his smiling face. That sent a static in his heart. Cloud had a beautiful smile…_But he looks like he is hardly ever happy…_Right then and there, Zack had made a promise to himself. _ I want to make Cloud happy._

They both stopped walking when the school bell rang, ending their half hour break.

"Which class do you have next?" Cloud asked. The blonde looked like his normal boring self again but he looked a bit less...uhh…boring?

"Um, Science with Professor Hollander…I think?" _At least I think that was his name…_

"He prefers to be called Doctor Hollander but call him professor anyways, its fun getting him mad."

"heh, I didn't picture you the type to get on teachers nerves." Zack stated. Cloud was an odd one alright.

As the two made their way to class Zack started remembering Aerith's words. _She said that he made her promise while they were at work….She also said that she was going to wor- FFFFFFF- She practically told me where Cloud worked and I didn't even know! The Wink! That's why she winked! I'm such a Shit Eating Dick Head or so Cloud says. _Zack was brutally torturing himself in the inside while on the outside he looked as happy as can be.

The two made it to class on time to only find a cloud of smoke. _The hell! _Zack was about to ask Cloud what was going on when two people ran out of the room. One Zack had already met when Aerith sent him on a wild goose chase; his name was Roxas but the other person Zack didn't know of. He had bright red spiky hair and bright green eyes.

" I wasn't here!" the red head called out as he ran off with Roxas.

"Cool, this means no stupid lecture today…" Cloud said cooly as if this were a normal thing.

"Is he that pyro guy I keep hearing about?" Well he only heard from him once by Aerith but whatever man!

"Yeah, his name is Axel or something. He does this every other week, he never learns I guess…" Cloud said still looking as bored as ever but Zack noticed a glint in his eyes. Cloud was in a good mood, which made Zack happy of course.

"I'm surprised that the fire alarm hasn't gone off-" _BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! _Came the obnoxious sound telling everyone to evacuate the school.

As the two were about to leave a familiar voice called out.

"Hey Zack and…Cloud?" Aerith was confused to see that Cloud was actually with someone, with Zack of all people. Zack was like the total opposite of Cloud so she would expect him to be the last person for Cloud to hang out with.

"Hey, Aerith" Zack greets back as if nothing were out of the sort. "come walk with us."

She jogs up to catch up with them. "Axel again?" She giggles.

"Axel again." Cloud answers. Aerith was surprised. She could even notice that the blonde was in a rather good mood. Even though he looks the same as always, she guessed it was the atmosphere? Or his aura?

To keep things from getting complicated the school decided to dismiss students and staff for the day.

Zack and Cloud where waiting for the train on the bench subways usually have. Zack had noticed that Cloud's good mood had vanished and he was now just…not in a good mood anymore.

"You not like train rides?" asked Zack. Zack liked train rides. He found them relaxing, so relaxing that he could fall asleep on them, which already happened of course which also lead to their first encounter with each other.

"They make me nauseous…" He admitted. Cloud seemed a bit embarrassed by this fact, because his cheeks turned into a slight shade of red.

"Ah, motion sickness. What a bitch…" He stated "The motion sickness I mean…" he added so there won't be any misunderstandings. He didn't want Cloud to think that he called HIM a bitch.

"Yeah…" He said then let out a groan when the train arrived.

Cloud pulled out his reading glasses and his Poe book. _Maybe reading helps him from the nausea? _

"You should try reading LOVELESS." Zack said. He remembers when Genesis would come over to their place and he would always quote the damn thing. He never understood what they meant.

"LOVELESS…" Cloud repeated. He seemed to be deciding on it. "…maybe…"

The train had stopped at Zack's destination. He was about to get up and bid farewell when…

"Well this is my stop…" stated Cloud as he got up. _Oh lord, this must be fate. _Cloud looked a bit confused when Zack had followed him out. Zack rubbed the back of his head. "This is also my stop, hehe." He hoped that Cloud wouldn't get angry and accuse him of being a stalker or something. Fortunately he didn't he just made an 'Oh' sound and started walking. Zack then noticed that they were both walking in the same direction to his apartment. _Okay I'm sure he'll take a left here…or not…okay okay keep calm Zack you are not stalking him. Please don't think I'm stalking you! _

Cloud came to a halt when he realized that they both were still going in the same direction.

"Don't tell me…" He started. _No No No! I'm not stalking you, Cloud! Please don't freak out. _Before Cloud could say anything else…

"I'm not stalking you I swear!" Zack screamed. He didn't want Cloud to think he was a creep! The blond was silent for a moment then. "I wasn't assuming that. I was guessing that we live in the same apartment complex…"

"O-oh…"

Zack unlocked and entered his and Angeal's apartment. Angeal wasn't in his usual spot on the couch. Zack was confused for a moment but then realized that he was still at work. Angeal usually was let off before school lets out but since they were dismissed early…

Letting out a sigh he plopped himself on his bed. He had wanted to hang out with Cloud some more but the blond had explained to him that he wanted to get some more hours in at work. This reminded that that he also needed to start job searching. He did have a job back in Gongaga, his home town but hes here in Midgar now… Not really here under good circumstances.

"What was the place Aerith said she and Cloud worked at…?" He started thinking back to their conversations. The name had finally hit him after some hard thinking and he practically jumped of his bed and ran to the desk top computer that Angeal put in the living area. A mischievous smile spread across his face.

Cloud had arrived at work wearing a simple black T and some denim jeans with dress shoes. Marluxia said he needed to look 'bad boy' yet 'classy' Cloud actually liked the combination in the two styles.

"Cloudy, I'm so glad you could come in today!" Marluxia said while suffocating Cloud in a bear hug.

"mfffnf…" Cloud tried to say 'Whatever' but it came out muffled.

Marluxia released him from his death hug. "Oh and I have some wonderful news!" He walked off…Walked the frick off!

"I'm guessing you're not going to tell me when the time is right…Right?" Cloud said, sounding a bit frustrated. Marluxia just loved leaving people on the cliff…

Marluxia just answered him with one of his famous evil villain laughs.

Not long after, Aerith showed up for her shift. "Hi everyone!" She greeted. "Ah, Aerith its good that you here. Can you help Cloud hang up some of the clothing please?" Marluxia asked and he did some computer work. He then made an 'Ooo!' sound when it made a ding sound, probably playing solitaire or some shit.

"So you and Zack are friends now?" Aerith asked. Aerith never really spoke to Cloud because she knew he wasn't much of a talker.

"I guess. " Cloud said as he organized the clothing. "You and Zack seem to have already known each other." Cloud stated. Aerith was already surprised that Cloud was even answering her and now they were actually making conversation!

"A-ah yeah. He and I are childhood friends I guess you could say." She giggled "He saved me…" that last statement seemed to echo in his head. "…he saved me…" he said the way he said it sounded too familiar to him. He began to grow frustrated. _Why can't I remember?!_

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked. Good, she didn't hear him. "He saved you how?" He asked.

"Oh, just from a couple of bullies…" She seemed fond of that memory. "He was- no IS my hero." She gave a heartwarming smile. "What about you Cloud? Do you have any heroes?"

"Yes, yes I do…" He said without thinking. _I do? Who?_ "…but I can't remember…" Cloud became closed off again and was quiet for the rest of the day.

It was closing time and Cloud had just locked the front doors to the shop. Marluxia was counting the days earnings from the cash register and Aerith had already left. Cloud walked up to him once he was finished. "We earned $1253 and 1 cent! That's pretty good huh?!"

"Yeah, today was a good one. So am I ready for the good news?" Cloud tried not to sound curious but deep down he was.

"I don't know. Are you?" He was giving him a shit eating grin. _Little pink haired fucker… _He let out a sigh "Yes…"

Marluxia became exited "Okay well this morning mom and pops called, ya know?" Marluxia considered Clouds parents as his as well which is why he referred them as 'Mom' and 'Pops'. "So yeah and they invited us to stay at their new mansion for the summer!" He then made a squealing noise "Exiting huh?!" Cloud was quiet for a moment. _Back at home means back at Nibelheim and being back at Nibelhaim means being close to 'him'…_ 'Him' was secret that Cloud had kept for 5 years now. No one knows what happened between Cloud and 'Him'which made it harder for Cloud to decline.

"Cloud? You okay, Bro?" Marluxia looked worried. Cloud had snapped out of his daze. "U-um yeah sounds fun." Marluxia gave him a look. He always knew when something was wrong. "What's wrong, Cloud?"

"Nothing…I guess I'm just a bit nervous about seeing everyone again…" That seemed to persuade Marluxia because he gave him a Its-going-to-be-okay smile. "Well I'm heading off now, see ya, Mar" Cloud waved as he headed for the back door.

~few hours prior~

Angeal had finally got home to find his little brother sleeping on the couch. His blood instantly boiled. He stomped over to the raven and pushed him off the couch causing Zack to flail in panic. "What?! Who?!"

"Did you ditch school, Zackary?!" Angeal only used 'Zackary' when he was angry at him. "I swear if you did Im-"

"What? No!" Zack interjected. "Jeez, man!"

Zack had explained the fire at school and that they had dismissed them early.

"I see, sorry about that." Angeal said, apologizing. Zack only grunted in response. "So did you find your blue eyed devil?" That question made Zack's eyes light up in delight.

"Yeah his name is Cloud and- Wait, devil? The fuck dude?! I said he was an angel!"

"Yeah well the devil was once an angel." Angeal countered only to get a pillow thrown at him.

"Ass hole!"


End file.
